Artist and activist Mishiko Sulakauri’s practice focuses on engaging in deep dialogues with local communities. His research explores critical issues that transcend histories, borders, power dynamics, environmental and social struggles. His work questions systems of consumption, production, and human interaction recognizing our failure as a global society.
During his ArtsLink International Fellowship 2020 (virtual and in-person residencies), the central idea of Mishiko’s research project into both environmental and sociological issues was focused on the trans-border experience and how it affects different species – people, insects and plants. Mishiko, in collaboration with his US host organization Unlisted Projects, engaged with artistic, scientific, and gardening communities in the construction of a wall near the South Texas border with Mexico.
Unlike the populist idea of isolationism, this wall’s purpose was to create a transitional oasis for the monarch butterflies, offering a regenerative habitat for their migration from Mexico to Canada. The wall-installation cradles milkweed plants, now an endangered species due to genetic modification of this poisonous yet decorative plant. The natural milkweed is the only source of nutrients for the monarch larvae. The installation went up in October 2021 in different locations in and around Austin.
